Rooster Painting Demonstrations

"Rooster 1"  Acrylic, 12x12"  $250  Click to Buy

"Rooster 2"  Acrylic, 12x12"  $250  Click to Buy

I was invited to do a painting demonstration on Friday night at the National Arts League in New York. The demo was to be from 8-10 pm.  I knew in advance this may be a problem, so I came prepared.  The first demo was finished in about 20 minutes.  I brought out my second canvas and jumped into the next painting, done in about 1/2 hour. Since I teach "how to paint fast, loose and bold" I figured it's a good idea to practice what I preach. There was plenty of time left over for coffee and cookies, Q and A, general chit chat about current museum shows, etc.
The demo was started with a 2 " flat brush and ended with a liner, to put the small highlights on the rooster's red "crown".  Below are some photos taken by Suzie Alvey, which made me realize I have a habit of sticking out my tongue while I paint. I guess there are worse habits, right?

Lavendar Lane

"Lavendar Lane"  12x12" Acrylic  Click for info

This street is in Nyack, NY, looking east towards the Hudson River. I believe this street is First Ave., but I think it should be "Lavendar Lane". I love repainting homes in lively colors, changing street names, trimming trees ... Artistic license, it's the best!

Capitol Building

Often I do commissioned pieces that are for the specific needs of clients - in other words, illustration. This one happens to be for an organization in Washington, I worked on gessoed masonite and got that slippery, slick surface. It may end up on the front cover of a brochure or an ad - I did it large enough so that the resolution will work for multiple usages. If only the goings on in Washington were as cheery and colorful as they appear here...

Capitol Building

Acrylic on Masonite, 16x20"

White Tulip

Anything "White" is usually anything BUT. I love painting white objects, they reveal so much color! This painting was created to be a "mate" for another tulip painting I recently did. It's a publishing commission and therefore I am trying to match the style and the overall color sense of the original tulip. It will be cropped to a square shape but I decided to paint the entire 8x10 canvas. Working within these pre-determined set of parameters is interesting because I need to keep checking my painting against the original to make sure I don't veer off into some new flight of fancy. I think they play nice together but if my client doesn't, stay tuned for "White Tulip 2".

White Tulip

Acrylic on Canvas, 8x10"

Two Grannies

Red Delicious (previous blog post) needed a mate - two voluptuous grannies were available and interested... maybe I should have named this Ménage a Trois?

Two Grannies

Acrylic on Canvas, 6x6" $100.

Pink Polish

Pink Polish

Acrylic on Canvas 12x12"

Eye Candy

Yesterday I hung a show of 25 pieces, some of them were my smaller daily paintings, which look so nice as a grouping of 6 or 9. I mounted them on wooden 6x6" boxes that have a 2" depth so they stood away from the wall very nicely. I painted each box a coordinating color, which made for a very lively and colorful presentation. The show is in Beacon, NY, about 1 mile from the Dia Museum Art Foundation, and about 90 minutes from NYC. The curator saw my work in a group show last year and we have been planning this for several months. Its always a kick in the butt to prepare for shows - framing, promo materials, last minute touches, etc. But seeing all the work up on the wall, in their color matched boxes, mmmm - easy on the eyes and satisfying for the soul!

Eye Candy

Oil on Canvas, 6x6"

Pink Stripes and Orange Slices

Pink Stripes and Orange Slices

Acrylic on Canvas, 6x6" $100

Two Cups

Two Cups

Acrylic on Canvas 6x6" $100

Ice Cream Cones

Why paint Ice Cream Cones in the winter? Because they are reeeeally fun to paint. And why stop at one with so many flavors/colors to play with? I became obsessed with soft serve ice cream cones this summer - those lovely folds of luscious creamy calories. But being the purist that I am, I had no interest in consuming them, only painting them.

This is a great exercise I give to my students - keep painting the same thing over and over till you know it so well you can do it with your eyes closed (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating there). The first one is usually kind of stiff, because you are feeling your way around it, as you paint it successively you SHOULD (ahem) get loose and confident. And by the time you get to the 4th - or the 14th, you know your subject so well you can paint it with ease, in very few, expressive strokes. The goal is to enjoy the journey and see where it takes you...

Soft Serve Ice Cream Cones

Acrylic on Canvas 9x12" $200.

For more information or to purchase contact patti@mollicastudio.com

Grapes and a Strawberry

I did this last night at my class at Pelham Arts Center. 'Twas my last class for the Fall season. I worked with such nice students, who did really fabulous work and made me feel happy to be sharing whatever I know about painting. Its great to give back, and especially great to guide people on a journey of discovering their own creativity. I find it interesting how harshly everyone judges their own work, including myself. We all seem to be comparing ourselves to some standard in our minds of what our work should look like, when what really matters is that we have the courage to face that blank white canvas and put down our authentic reaction to what we see. Everytime we do a painting - or even a stroke - it's a good idea to pat ourselves on the back - just for doing it! A painting a day is one of the best ways I know of to not only progress as a painter, but to move forward in life in general. My all time favorite quote is from Eleanor Roosevelt "Do one thing everyday that scares you." Facing a blank white canvas everyday will do it.

Grapes and a Strawberry

Acrylic on Canvas 8x10"

For more information or to purchase contact patti@mollicastudio.com

Lemon Slices

Yesterday was a painting marathon. I setup this still life for one of my students and painted along with them, painting from whatever angle I could find. I always let the students get the "good view" and I take whatever is left, but that in itself is a great lesson for me. As artists, we are often faced with less than ideal settings and situations and we have to find ways to "make it work" one way or another. If the composition doesn't work or the lighting is bad or the angles are awkward or the subject gets up and leaves, what can we do to fix it? The good news is that we have permission - aka artistic license - to do whatever it takes to make the painting work. Having a deep bag of artistic tricks, learned from dealing with many imperfect situations helps. In otherwords, learning how to best make lemonade from lemons. The other two paintings were done after class, where I could arrange the slices however I chose, stand wherever I wanted to get a good view. Interestingly enough, I like the first one the best, where I had to work dilligently from my big bag of tricks.

Lemon Slices 1,2, and 3

6x6" Acrylic on Canvas

For information or to purchase, contact patti@mollicastudio.com

Boat Painting

Painting boats en plein air, its tricky. The boats move, the light changes, there is always distractions from curious bystanders who are fascinated and want to chat, the schlepping, the bugs, I always forget my visor and sunblock. So many things to deal with, so little time to work with before the light pattern has changed completely, about 3 hours tops. However all these factors put together make for a painting that communicates a bold, immediate reaction to your subject matter which is hard to simulate in a controlled studio setting. Your color, values and drawing decisions have to be quickly calculated and ruthlessly executed - no time to waver. Get it right - now - and move on quickly.

I discovered a marina in Rye, New York yesterday at about 3:45. After getting permission to paint there, parking, setting up my easel, putting out the colors, brushes, doing a quick sketch etc, I was ready to roll at about 4:30. Minus about 1/2 hour of chat time with some local boat owners who kindly offered me beer, water, and a sunset boatride, the painting was done at 6 PM. Just in time to enjoy that sunset cruise - which departed about 10 minutes prior ... next time!

Rye Marina SOLD

12x12 Acrylic on Canvas

Yellow Rose

A rose is a rose is a rose...

that elegant simplicity of a rose in bloom is so alluring. Yet is there anything more challenging to paint? The tendancy is to paint every single petal, accounting for the layers and layers of lush fullness that makes the rose so voluptuous. However in approaching it that way, one can quickly find themselves on a slippery slope of painting every petal and eliminating all the "magic" that struck us upon first glimpse. This is one of the many challenges of painting such an exquisite, complex, masterfully designed form. Implying the complexity but painting the simplicity and the drama ... not so easy.

My husband bought me a dozen yellow roses for my recent birthday. One of them stood out as being so "perfect" in its structure and design, so "architectural", that I decided to bring it to class and have my students paint it. What added to the challenge was that it was set against a very light backround, with little contrast to "fall back on". When everyone left, I pulled out the paints and went at it too.

Yellow Rose Acrylic on Board 10x10

If you are interested in purchasing, contact me at: patti@mollicastudio.com